iFi hip-dac 3 vs Shanling H2

Short answer

  • More power: the Shanling H2, with 680 mW into 32 Ω; the iFi hip-dac 3 has 280 mW. The Shanling H2 drives 1 headphone to 100 dB that the iFi hip-dac 3 cannot (Moondrop PARA).
  • Hiss with sensitive IEMs: cannot be compared — neither maker publishes a noise figure.
  • Price: the Shanling H2 costs $30 less, and wherever both makers publish a figure the iFi hip-dac 3 shows no advantage for the extra money.

Both are portable amplifiers, $199 against $169.

The Shanling H2 reaches 100 dB on 566 of the 567 models here, the iFi hip-dac 3 on 565.

Side by side

Every published figure, next to each other

SpecificationiFi hip-dac 3Shanling H2
Power into 32Ω280 mW680 mW
Power into 150Ω60 mW145 mW
Power into 300Ω30 mW73 mW
Power into 600Ω15 mW36 mW
Output impedance1 Ωnot published
Output noisenot publishednot published
Price$199$169
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567		565566

Not published means the maker leaves it out, so that axis cannot be compared.

Balanced output

The 4.4 mm or XLR socket, rated on its own

BalancediFi hip-dac 3Shanling H2
Socket4.4mmno separate rating
Power into 32Ω400 mW—
Power into 300Ω43 mW derived—
Output impedance1 Ω—
Output noisenot published—
Headphones it reaches 100 dB on
out of 567		565—

Only the iFi hip-dac 3 has a separate balanced rating from its maker; through it, it reaches 100 dB on 565 of the 567 models here. The Shanling H2 may still have a balanced socket — its spec sheet simply gives no figure for one, so there is nothing to put beside it. Derived figures are worked out from the loads the maker did publish.

How solid these numbers are

Where each power figure comes from

LoadiFi hip-dac 3Shanling H2
32 ΩPublishedPublished
150 ΩDerivedDerived
300 ΩDerivedDerived
600 ΩDerivedDerived

Both makers publish a power rating. iFi hip-dac 3 publishes at 32 Ω; Shanling H2 at 32 Ω. The other rows are worked out from those.

The two publish at the same loads, which is the one case where the rows of this table can be read straight across.

What the labels mean.

What separates them

The headphones that tell them apart

1 headphone reaches 100 dB on the Shanling H2 but not on the iFi hip-dac 3 — Moondrop PARA.

565 of the 567 models here reach 100 dB on both.

On real headphones

Headroom and hiss on 8 models, both sources

Headroom is at a 100 dB SPL peak.

The widest gap on the list is the Audio-Technica ATH-R70X: Shanling H2 has +15 dB of headroom there against +11 dB. 4 dB is about 2.4 times the power, which matters for peaks rather than for how loud the music sits.

The hiss columns are empty for iFi hip-dac 3 and Shanling H2 because neither maker publishes no output noise figure.

HeadphoneImpedanceNeedsiFi hip-dac 3 headroomShanling H2 headroomiFi hip-dac 3 hissShanling H2 hiss
Shure SE8469 Ω0.04 mW+33 dB+37 dBnot publishednot published
Campfire Audio Andromeda 20209 Ω4.0 mW+13 dB+17 dBnot publishednot published
Audeze LCD-2 Classic70 Ω0.79 mW+22 dB+26 dBnot publishednot published
Beyerdynamic DT 1990 Pro (250Ω)250 Ω0.63 mW+18 dB+21 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN HE400se25 Ω7.9 mW+14 dB+18 dBnot publishednot published
Audio-Technica ATH-R70X470 Ω1.6 mW+11 dB+15 dBnot publishednot published
Sennheiser HD 600300 Ω6.6 mW+7 dB+10 dBnot publishednot published
HiFiMAN Susvara60 Ω50 mW+5 dB+9 dBnot publishednot published
What the price difference buys

The gap in dollars, against the gap in numbers

The iFi hip-dac 3 costs $30 more than the Shanling H2, and on these three axes the money buys nothing: among the 567 models here there is not one that the iFi hip-dac 3 handles and the Shanling H2 does not — not on power, not on the one-eighth rule, not on hiss. The traffic runs the other way: the cheaper Shanling H2 drives one model to 100 dB that the iFi hip-dac 3 does not.

Only published figures count here; blank axes are counted separately.

Next

Both pages in full

Each in full: iFi hip-dac 3 and Shanling H2.

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